T.O.bites | Toronto Food & Restaurant Blog

Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to visit many different cities across many different continents and oceans. I’m always curious about food from local places around different cities, and sometimes I’m even inclined to see how different the menu is at McDonald’s in China. So begins the first of my very own Foodventures on T.O.bites. Could I haven come up with a better cliche? Probably not.

I spent the past week in New York City, or Manhattan if you want to narrow it down. I’ve had the pleasure of being to Manhattan before, but this is the first time I’ve gone knowing that I can update my food blog when I return. During my hunt for an iPad (yes, they were sold out practically everywhere) and lining up in the standby lines for performances, I walked the streets of New York looking for that special place that New Yorkers proudly call their own Fran’s (or Caplansky’s, or Canoe’s, or Terroni… do you see where I’m getting with this?) Unfortunately, I can’t say I ever found out, but most midtown working New Yorkers swear by their hot dog stands.

Craving a hot dog, I came across a place not far from the NYU campus sitting on Bleecker St called New York Hotdog & Coffee. It’s not the blending of hot dogs and coffee that stands out. It’s the fact that they add bulgogi on top of your dog!

Hot dogs and coffee

It’s a Korean run hot dog store where not only do you have the choice of bulgogi, but you can also put BBQ chicken, and even kimchi on top of your dog. Add $2 and you get your choice of fries, chips, or frozen yogurt with a drink. It’s amazing how something so simple as adding Korean meat on top of your dog can make it so great. I ordered the fries with my dog, but I’m going to say that you’d probably be better off going with the frozen yogurt. The fries were incredibly greasy but had a sand-like texture from the potatoes in the middle.

BBQ Chicken Hot dog (yes, there was a hot dog sausage underneath)

The next stop is a restaurant that’s right at home on Broadway by Times Square.  Fitting to it’s location, Ellen’s Stardust features singing waitstaff who are more than eager to serve and serenade you with their chords.  If you thought the singing cooks and cashiers at Lick’s was overdone, then you may want to visit Stardust with an open mind.  The staff each take turns belting out a tune as they walk around the place.  It’s actually quite in your face, but that’s what makes it enjoyable.  On the downside, if you want a glass a water and it’s your server’s turn to sing, you’re going to have to wait until after the song.

I read in a local magazine that the meatloaf at Ellen’s is pretty decent so I decided to try it myself.  I like that it was served with broccoli as a side.  I grow tired of places that serve meatloaf with carrots so seeing some green veggies was a nice surprise.  The meatloaf had gravy all over it which added to the taste.  It wasn’t the best meatloaf ever (as that title goes to Sara’s homemade meatloaf) but it was pretty decent.  It also came with a side of mashed potatoes which were real potatoes, not the dehydrated boxed kind.

meatloaf served by the singing waitstaff

On my last night, I was going to be around the upper west side area of Manhattan to see a performance at Juilliard.  I made a request at a local forum to see where students who attending Juilliard usually go to eat, and the majority of them agreed that Ollie’s Noodle Shop and Grille was the place to check out.  When you first enter Ollie’s, you’re in the take out seating area which resembles a food court cafeteria.  It’s there for those who just want to pay for their food, eat it, and quickly head back out again.  Oddly, there was a wall inside there with about 15+ bicycles parked there.  Since when I went, the place appeared to be somewhat dead, I’m guessing the bicycles must have been owned by the staff.

Ollie's... the chinese food in Toronto is still the best

Around the back is the dine in area which is also quite huge and fancy.  I was told that the orange chicken was the best thing to order.  There was a selection of a few dim sum plates, but it was a tiny selection compared to the dim sum we have here in Toronto (literally just a few BBQ buns and tapioca pudding.  Darn, no mango pudding.)  The orange chicken was not bad at all.  It was sweet but had a nice spicy kick to it, much like the popular General Tao’s Chicken of Not Just Noodles.  Everything else was a little lacking compared to the excellent chinese restaurants we have in our downtown chinatown.

I can hear your questions already so I plan to address them now:

1.  Yes, I did get an iPad.  I was hinted off from an employee that there *might* be a shipment coming in a few hours, so low and behold, they had iPads.  I arrived back just in time too as they only had a few left out of 200+ that they received merely a few hours ago.  These things are flying off the shelves in the US and with good reason; they’re great.  Infact, 80% of the above post was typed out on said iPad during the trip home.

Timmy's!

2. Yes, there are Tim Horton’s in New York.  They’re not as established there as they are in Toronto, but they are there, and they are expanding as I walked by a few places that were under renovation with a “Tim Horton’s coming soon” sign on them.  They’ve got the same things we’ve got here in Canada but there didn’t appear to be any rolling up of the rims.  I doubt they’ll ever take over the Starbucks’ that sit on every corner, but Tim’s and Bucks are the apples and oranges of the coffee world but I do think Dunkin Donuts has some heavy competition moving in.

double down? more like triple bypass

3. No!  I did not eat the Double Down sandwich from KFC.  They were launched the day after I arrived and I saw people ordering them but I believe it was more for the novelty of trying it out than anything else. Ok. I’m going to say it.  Double Down is one of the many reasons why companies like Jenny Craig still exist.  There, I said it.